What Is the Spiritual Reason for Educating Children and Young People?
Key Concept: Because it serves as an important means in fulfilling the Lord's purpose in creation education is a primary work of charity (True Christian Religion 431).
The domestic duties of charity are those of a husband to his wife, and of a wife to her husband; of a father and mother to their children, and of children to their parents; also of a master and mistress to their servants, and of servants to their master and mistress. The duties relating to the education of children and the management of households are so numerous that it would require a volume to enumerate them. Every man is led to discharge these duties from a love different from that which moves him in his ordinary occupation. The duties of a husband to his wife, and of a wife to her husband are from and according to conjugial love; those of a father and mother to their children are from the love implanted in every one, called parental love; and those of children to their parents from and according to another love, closely connected with obedience from a sense of duty…. [3] There is this to be particularly noted regarding duties of parents to their children. Inwardly there is a difference with those who are in charity and those who are not, although outwardly the duties appear similar. Those who are in charity unite their love with love towards the neighbor and with love to God, loving their children for their morality, their virtues, their zeal, and talents for public service. With those, however, who are not in charity there is no such union of charity with the parental love; so that many of them love wicked, immoral, and crafty children more than those who are good, moral, and prudent, and thus those who are useless to the public more than those who are useful (True Christian Religion 431:1,3).
As regards the food of the man who is to be regenerated, the case is this: before a man can be regenerated he needs to be furnished with all things that may serve as means—with the goods and delights of the affections as means for the will; and with truths from the Word of the Lord, and also with confirmatory things from other sources, as means for the understanding. Until a man is furnished with such things he cannot be regenerated; these being for food. This is the reason why a man is not regenerated until he comes to adult age (Arcana Coelestia 677).
The order is for the celestial to inflow into the spiritual and adapt it to itself; for the spiritual thus to inflow into the rational and adapt it to itself; and for the rational thus to inflow into the memory-knowledge and adapt it to itself. But when a man is being instructed in his earliest childhood, the order is indeed the same, but it appears otherwise, namely, that he advances from memory-knowledges to rational things, from these to spiritual things, and so at last to celestial things. The reason it so appears is that a way must thus be opened to celestial things, which are the inmost. All instruction is simply an opening of the way; and as the way is opened, or what is the same, as the vessels are opened, there thus flow in, as before said, in their order, rational things that are from celestial spiritual things; into these flow the celestial spiritual things; and into these, celestial things. These celestial and spiritual things are continually presenting themselves, and are also preparing and forming for themselves the vessels which are being opened; which may also be seen from the fact that in themselves the memory-knowledge and rational are dead, and that it is from the inflowing interior life that they seem to be alive. This can become manifest to any one from the thought, and the faculty of judgment. [3] In these lie hidden all the arcana of analytical art and science, which are so many that they can never be explored even as to the ten thousandth part; and this not with the adult man only, but also with children, whose every thought and derivative expression of speech is most full of them (although man, even the most learned, is not aware of this), and this could not possibly be the case unless the celestial and spiritual things within were coming forth, flowing in, and producing all these things (Arcana Coelestia 1495:2-3).
By the life through which the Lord is chiefly worshipped, is meant a life according to His commandments in the Word, for by these man knows what faith is and what charity is; this life is the Christian life, and is called spiritual life (Arcana Coelestia 8257).
Divine influx with man is into the truth in which he has been instructed (Arcana Coelestia 8441).
The genuine rational faculty consists of truths and not of falsities; whatever consists of falsities is not rational. There are three kinds of truths, civil, moral, and spiritual. Civil truths relate to matters of judgment and of government in kingdoms, and in general to what is just and equitable in them. Moral truths pertain to the matters of everyone's life which have regard to companionships and social relations, in general to what is honest and right, and in particular to virtues of every kind. But spiritual truths relate to matters of heaven and of the church, and in general to the good of love and the truth of faith. [2] In every man there are three degrees of life…. The rational faculty is opened to the first degree by civil truths, to the second degree by moral truths, and to the third degree by spiritual truths. But it ought to be known that the rational that consists of these truths is not formed and opened by man's knowing them, but by his living according to them; and living according to them means loving them from spiritual affection; and to love truths from spiritual affection is to love what is just and equitable because it is just and equitable, what is honest and right because it is honest and right, and what is good and true because it is good and true (Heaven and Hell 468:1-2).
What Is the Spiritual Reason for Educating Children and Young People?
Key Concept: Because it serves as an important means in fulfilling the Lord's purpose in creation education is a primary work of charity (True Christian Religion 431).
The domestic duties of charity are those of a husband to his wife, and of a wife to her husband; of a father and mother to their children, and of children to their parents; also of a master and mistress to their servants, and of servants to their master and mistress. The duties relating to the education of children and the management of households are so numerous that it would require a volume to enumerate them. Every man is led to discharge these duties from a love different from that which moves him in his ordinary occupation. The duties of a husband to his wife, and of a wife to her husband are from and according to conjugial love; those of a father and mother to their children are from the love implanted in every one, called parental love; and those of children to their parents from and according to another love, closely connected with obedience from a sense of duty…. [3] There is this to be particularly noted regarding duties of parents to their children. Inwardly there is a difference with those who are in charity and those who are not, although outwardly the duties appear similar. Those who are in charity unite their love with love towards the neighbor and with love to God, loving their children for their morality, their virtues, their zeal, and talents for public service. With those, however, who are not in charity there is no such union of charity with the parental love; so that many of them love wicked, immoral, and crafty children more than those who are good, moral, and prudent, and thus those who are useless to the public more than those who are useful (True Christian Religion 431:1,3).
As regards the food of the man who is to be regenerated, the case is this: before a man can be regenerated he needs to be furnished with all things that may serve as means—with the goods and delights of the affections as means for the will; and with truths from the Word of the Lord, and also with confirmatory things from other sources, as means for the understanding. Until a man is furnished with such things he cannot be regenerated; these being for food. This is the reason why a man is not regenerated until he comes to adult age (Arcana Coelestia 677).
The order is for the celestial to inflow into the spiritual and adapt it to itself; for the spiritual thus to inflow into the rational and adapt it to itself; and for the rational thus to inflow into the memory-knowledge and adapt it to itself. But when a man is being instructed in his earliest childhood, the order is indeed the same, but it appears otherwise, namely, that he advances from memory-knowledges to rational things, from these to spiritual things, and so at last to celestial things. The reason it so appears is that a way must thus be opened to celestial things, which are the inmost. All instruction is simply an opening of the way; and as the way is opened, or what is the same, as the vessels are opened, there thus flow in, as before said, in their order, rational things that are from celestial spiritual things; into these flow the celestial spiritual things; and into these, celestial things. These celestial and spiritual things are continually presenting themselves, and are also preparing and forming for themselves the vessels which are being opened; which may also be seen from the fact that in themselves the memory-knowledge and rational are dead, and that it is from the inflowing interior life that they seem to be alive. This can become manifest to any one from the thought, and the faculty of judgment. [3] In these lie hidden all the arcana of analytical art and science, which are so many that they can never be explored even as to the ten thousandth part; and this not with the adult man only, but also with children, whose every thought and derivative expression of speech is most full of them (although man, even the most learned, is not aware of this), and this could not possibly be the case unless the celestial and spiritual things within were coming forth, flowing in, and producing all these things (Arcana Coelestia 1495:2-3).
By the life through which the Lord is chiefly worshipped, is meant a life according to His commandments in the Word, for by these man knows what faith is and what charity is; this life is the Christian life, and is called spiritual life (Arcana Coelestia 8257).
Divine influx with man is into the truth in which he has been instructed (Arcana Coelestia 8441).
The genuine rational faculty consists of truths and not of falsities; whatever consists of falsities is not rational. There are three kinds of truths, civil, moral, and spiritual. Civil truths relate to matters of judgment and of government in kingdoms, and in general to what is just and equitable in them. Moral truths pertain to the matters of everyone's life which have regard to companionships and social relations, in general to what is honest and right, and in particular to virtues of every kind. But spiritual truths relate to matters of heaven and of the church, and in general to the good of love and the truth of faith. [2] In every man there are three degrees of life…. The rational faculty is opened to the first degree by civil truths, to the second degree by moral truths, and to the third degree by spiritual truths. But it ought to be known that the rational that consists of these truths is not formed and opened by man's knowing them, but by his living according to them; and living according to them means loving them from spiritual affection; and to love truths from spiritual affection is to love what is just and equitable because it is just and equitable, what is honest and right because it is honest and right, and what is good and true because it is good and true (Heaven and Hell 468:1-2).